- The parlous state of WA's electricity supply was highlighted
again yesterday when the Collie power station crashed, cutting power to
125,000 homes and businesses in the metropolitan area and key regional
centres.
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- Late yesterday, Western Power was still unable to explain
the cause of the 2¸-hour blackout, which hit at 1pm and also cut
traffic lights throughout the suburbs.
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- The State Opposition said the shutdown raised more questions
about Western Power&laqno;s announcement on Monday that it may defer plans
for another major generator in the South-West.
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- The utility said it would not call for final tenders
for a $350 million power plant until the end of the year - more than six
months later than many industry observers had expected.
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- It claimed it could extend the life of its oldest generators
while it reviewed plans for the baseload power station.
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- Yesterday&laqno;s breakdown came just two months after
Western Power warned of rolling blackouts after the crash of one of its
key coal-fired generators and a two-week maintenance shutdown on the Dampier-Bunbury
gas pipeline, which feeds many of its other stations.
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- It narrowly managed to avoid widespread blackouts by
cranking up production at its coal-fired stations.
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- But the situation highlighted the extent to which WA&laqno;s
electricity supplies have been stretched by growing demand, ageing equipment
and a heavy dependence on the Dampier-to-Bunbury gas pipeline.
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- Opposition energy spokesman John Day also said the blackout
was a possible sign of things to come if the Gallop Government proceeded
with its plan to break up Western Power.
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- "It shows how delicate the whole system is . . .
you don&laqno;t need much to go wrong for a lot of people to be affected
and we&laqno;ve seen that overseas on the east coast of America recently
and in London," he said.
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- "It emphasises how delicate the provision of electricity
supplies are and how it needs to be very carefully managed. There will
be a loss of that ability if the Government goes down the path it is planning
to."
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- The Collie station was still down last night as Western
Power worked to discover the cause of the failure.
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- Back-up gas turbines at Pinjar were brought on line gradually
during the afternoon and full power was restored by 3.30pm.
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- A Western Power spokesman said the gas turbines would
run indefinitely and would cope with demand.
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- Power supplies to Royal Perth Hospital and Sir Charles
Gairdner Hospital were not affected. Police, fire and ambulance services
did not report any significant difficulties.
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- Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA director of industry
policy Bill Sashegyi said the cuts were too short to have any major effect
on industry.
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- He said the introduction of an independent regulatory
authority under proposed changes to Western Power had been shown in the
Eastern States to reduce the occurrence of such interruptions.
- http://www.thewest.com.au/20031011/news/general/tw-news-general-home-sto114158.html
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